


Powerless, Unwise, Cowardly

by Fiddlerinthewoods



Series: Linktober 2020 [24]
Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms
Genre: Linktober, The Triforce, huh, sort of a character study of the triforce, that's new, this one isn't about linked universe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-24
Updated: 2020-10-24
Packaged: 2021-03-08 18:47:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,465
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27181321
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fiddlerinthewoods/pseuds/Fiddlerinthewoods
Summary: Linktober Day Twenty-Four: TriforcePower is not good, nor is it evil.Wisdom is neither good nor evil.There is courage in evil, there is courage in good.
Series: Linktober 2020 [24]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1948612
Comments: 1
Kudos: 14





	Powerless, Unwise, Cowardly

**Author's Note:**

> I don't own Legend of Zelda.
> 
> Enjoy!

Power is not good, nor is it evil. It is merely an ideal that can be abused, as all ideals can be. Both evil and good use power, whether to defeat foes or oppress those beneath. As such, seeing as power is used by both good and evil, it is neutral.

Power simply is.

It takes power to rise against the masses, to start a war, or to destroy a world. Yet, it also takes power to grow and to learn, to train and to conquer, to save and to heal. The idea that power is inherently evil is false, there is nothing evil about a power that is used to save, even if it is used to harm.

Saving someone will harm someone else. Always. Protecting a person goes against another person, stopping someone is helping another. There is no way for power to be good or evil because no matter how it is used, someone will feel the terrible side of power.

It is the ability to have a choice. Someone with power can choose to help others, can choose to start a war, or can choose to stop a war. People without power can’t. All they can do is follow along in the rampage or trail of the person with power.

Power is the easiest to abuse. Unlike with wisdom or courage, power can make someone feel invulnerable. It can corrupt the mind and leave the victim starving for more—power is both drug and dealer. It’s very dangerous. Yet, power’s not only something people can use.

The world is power. There is nothing stronger than the power that comes from nature: tsunamis, earthquakes, tornados. You cannot fight against nature for you are merely not powerful enough. No one is. Compared to the world, people are powerless.

But compared to others, there are some people who have power. The authorities have power, kings and queens have power, the Hero has power, the Villain has power; the Triforce has power. To the average person, they may seem powerless but they aren’t.

Power does not need to be granted to someone through the power of the Goddesses. It is simply a choice: you can choose to stand-up; you can choose to stand-down. Having power does not mean someone is evil, it simply means that someone has the ability to make a choice.

Yes, that choice can be terrible and life-threatening. But everyone has a choice. Everyone has power, it may be different levels of power but, everyone has it.

Power only becomes dangerous when it consumes.

_A sword is mightier than a pen._

* * *

Wisdom is not simply knowing, nor is it intelligence. It isn’t reading books or leading armies; it is something else. The bases behind wisdom is using experiences and applying the knowledge learnt to new situations.

People say that the older you get, the wiser you get. That is both true and false. You only get wiser if you learnt from your past experiences. If you didn’t learn, then you didn’t get wiser. It is knowing when to apply knowledge.

Yes, wisdom and knowledge go hand-in-hand, but they are not the same. You can be wise, yet not be intelligent. You can be intelligent, yet not wise. By being wise, you don’t know everything there is to know, you simply understand when to use your knowledge—no matter how much, or little, you have of it.

Sometimes, the wisest thing to do is sit-back. Wisdom can seem like hardship for others, but it is simply as easy as thinking. Sharing experiences and lessons learnt may make someone seem wiser, and it does, but also learning from others’ experiences and lessons is wise.

The wisest course of action is one that many scoff at. Sometimes, it is wiser to not interfere, and to only offer aid.

Wisdom is neither good nor evil.

Villains can be wise; Heroes can be unwise. Having wisdom does not mean someone is automatically good, it means that they are able to learn from experience and apply their knowledge when applicable. It takes wisdom to learn from a defeat, and both Villains and Heroes do that.

Our minds are wired to remember terrible moments—moments we lost, or made a mistake, or even when we failed. Taking the knowledge of how we messed up, we can apply it to future events to prevent the same failure. We were born to be wise; many people just do not understand that.

The elderly are wise because of the experiences they’ve been through—but the elderly may also be unwise if they do not understand how to use their knowledge. A child can be wiser than the old, and the old can be wiser than a child.

Wisdom isn’t suddenly granted upon a person when they’ve reached an age. It is granted upon a person the moment their brain starts to work; the moment they can think, wisdom is given to them. Yet, many may not believe this because they think of themselves as unwise, but wisdom need not be told in cryptic messages or vague passages.

You do not need to rhyme to be wise. If you are able to think and remember and learn, then you have the capacity to be wise. Many do not care to think upon their mistakes of the past, but doing so can help you learn.

The future is only shaped by what we’ve learnt in history.

_A pen is mightier than a sword._

* * *

Courage is not the absence of fear, but being able to do good in spite of the fear. This is something many people have heard: it takes courage to overcome fear. Yet, that is partially true.

Never has courage been about overcoming fear. In order to be courageous, one must acknowledge the fear. You cannot be courageous if you don’t have fear, then it simply isn’t courage.

It takes no courage to do what is easy; it takes courage to do what is hard.

Rising from nothing to stop evil, for example, takes courage. It takes courage to stand-up to those oppressing you and tell them “No.” It takes courage to help those at the expense of yourself.

But courage need not be only for Heroes. Everyone has courage. Sometimes, it takes courage to get out of bed in the morning, to interact with people, to leave your homes. Sometimes, it takes courage to explain the truth, or to tell those you love who you truly are.

No matter if you view your acts of courage as infinitesimal, they are still courageous acts. Just because the only person benefitting from the actions may be yourself doesn’t mean the acts aren’t courageous.

There is courage in evil, there is courage in good.

It takes courage to take the first step, whether to save the world or to oppress it. It takes courage to yell in the face of the world that you belong there, and that no one was going to take your life away. It takes courage to look your loved ones in the eyes and tell them it’s okay, even though you know it won’t be. It takes courage to pretend everything is alright.

It takes courage to admit that nothing is alright.

There is nothing cowardly about admitting defeat, about admitting the truth. It is so much easier to lie, to deceive people, to spin a web of falsehoods and deception in order for others to like you. Courage is letting people see who you are inside, who you truly are, not who you are behind your façade or behind your lies.

Courage is standing up for what’s right, even if the world is pulling you down.

Demons in the shadows will try and convince you that courage is something out of reach, but it never is. So long as you try to do what is right, no matter how hard it is, then you are courageous. Sometimes, courage is saving people—sometimes, courage is saving yourself.

There is no shame in asking for help. It is so much easier to stand by yourself, and to bear the weight on your shoulders; but there is so much courage in reaching out your hand and asking for someone to help support the weight.

Courage does not make you invulnerable. It never has and it never will. Heroes seem to be fearless, but they aren’t; they do what is right no matter how terrifying it is.

You don’t need to be wise to be courageous, you don’t need to be powerful to be courageous. All you need is to believe in something, and to fight for that belief. Fear need not hold you down.

_Mighty is the hand that knows when to use a sword, and when to use a pen._

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed!


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